A follow up on this

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Posted by Iguanamomma on August 23, 1999 at 21:47:15:

In Reply to: Re: Pass iZ an extra bite of orange tonight! posted by BabyHerp on August 23, 1999 at 19:00:51:

Thought I should post a follow up that Melissa Kaplan did on this subject. Also, it was debated on the list whether the peel was good. Majority rules no *grin* Someone made a statement that most of the vitamins were in the peel/rind...my thought (which I didn't submit) was "oh yeah, and all the pesticides,too" Anyway, here's the follow up:

Message: 4 Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 09:32:45 -0700
From: "Melissa Kaplan" melissk@sonic.net
Subject: RE: Citric acid ; thinking
Citric acid, from citrus fruits and tomatoes, can be irritating to very young lizards and tortoises. The flesh is fine to feed to older ones on occasion. They aren't as nutritious as other fruits, and they certainly don't have as much calcium, etc., as the leafy greens (you can compare quantities and data using the USDA database http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl).
Citrus is not native to where iguanas live and evolved in the wild. They did not evolve eating citrus, and it is doubtful they have even seen citrus unless they live next humans who happen to have a tree in their yard(or hotels using citrus garnish in drinks and on plates), or near plantations growing citrus for market - or the ig is trussed up, without his eyes being
sewn shut, in a market awaiting purchase for someone's dinner.
It would have to be a very large iguana and a very small, overly ripe/rotting unit of citrus fruit for an iguana to be able to bite through
it - if an ig even found one. Just because one can get one's ig to eat peel doesn't mean it should eat peel or that it is good for him - if that were the case, I'd cut up the Chinese area rug in my den and feed it to the igs
who have tried to eat the leaves and flower petals on it in the past... ;)
Someone stated that citrus peel has more nutrients than the flesh - is there some documentation for this? If this were the case, I would think that we would be eating it ourselves more than we do (now, it is the zest[scrapings
used to add flavor without adding fluid], or thin strips of peel [also used to add flavor], or candied [I leave the lemon peel in from the thinly sliced lemons added to my ginger]). I suppose there are folks who eat citruspeel,
just like there are some who eat raw potatoes (ick ick ick), but with the recent trend towards more nutritious eating, I've never seen anything about citrus peel-as-food.
*******

The end. My 2 cents on the subject - IMHO it would be an occasional food (unless otherwise indicated by a vet)and should be peeled and cut in to appropriate bite size pieces. Don't try to hand feed it...unless you want to see how much you can bleed when your ig thinks that piece is bigger than it really is and has an "oopsy". Ummm...I can bleed ALOT! LOL

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Re: A follow up on this BabyHerp 8/23/99 (3)
- Re: A follow up on this Jamie/JBug 8/24/99 (0)
- Re: Im wrong BabyHerp 8/24/99 (0)
- Did it hurt much? Iguanamomma 8/23/99 (0)

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: Thought I should post a follow up that Melissa Kaplan did on this subject. Also, it was debated on the list whether the peel was good. Majority rules no *grin* Someone made a statement that most of the vitamins were in the peel/rind...my thought (which I didn't submit) was "oh yeah, and all the pesticides,too" Anyway, here's the follow up: : Message: 4 Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 09:32:45 -0700 : From: "Melissa Kaplan" melissk@sonic.net : Subject: RE: Citric acid ; thinking : Citric acid, from citrus fruits and tomatoes, can be irritating to very young lizards and tortoises. The flesh is fine to feed to older ones on occasion. They aren't as nutritious as other fruits, and they certainly don't have as much calcium, etc., as the leafy greens (you can compare quantities and data using the USDA database http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl). : Citrus is not native to where iguanas live and evolved in the wild. They did not evolve eating citrus, and it is doubtful they have even seen citrus unless they live next humans who happen to have a tree in their yard(or hotels using citrus garnish in drinks and on plates), or near plantations growing citrus for market - or the ig is trussed up, without his eyes being : sewn shut, in a market awaiting purchase for someone's dinner. : It would have to be a very large iguana and a very small, overly ripe/rotting unit of citrus fruit for an iguana to be able to bite through : it - if an ig even found one. Just because one can get one's ig to eat peel doesn't mean it should eat peel or that it is good for him - if that were the case, I'd cut up the Chinese area rug in my den and feed it to the igs : who have tried to eat the leaves and flower petals on it in the past... ;) : Someone stated that citrus peel has more nutrients than the flesh - is there some documentation for this? If this were the case, I would think that we would be eating it ourselves more than we do (now, it is the zest[scrapings : used to add flavor without adding fluid], or thin strips of peel [also used to add flavor], or candied [I leave the lemon peel in from the thinly sliced lemons added to my ginger]). I suppose there are folks who eat citruspeel, : just like there are some who eat raw potatoes (ick ick ick), but with the recent trend towards more nutritious eating, I've never seen anything about citrus peel-as-food. : ******* : The end. My 2 cents on the subject - IMHO it would be an occasional food (unless otherwise indicated by a vet)and should be peeled and cut in to appropriate bite size pieces. Don't try to hand feed it...unless you want to see how much you can bleed when your ig thinks that piece is bigger than it really is and has an "oopsy". Ummm...I can bleed ALOT! LOL

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